European electricity demand was volatile through 2009, with some countries seeing slight declines in demand. However, the longer term forecast is continued growth for the Western European electricity market as new power plants come on-stream.

‘The Western European Electricity Market Outlook 2010’ is an updated management report that provides a comprehensive examination of the electricity market landscape in each of the major Western European markets and predicts future market trends. This report also provides an in-depth analysis of 19 highly dynamic Western European electricity markets, with detailed data on supply and demand balances. The country profiles also feature an overview of supply and demand, an examination of key influences on the sector and an analysis of international trading and infrastructure. Use this report to identify and exploit new profit opportunities created by Western European electricity market expansion and anticipate future market risks.

Key Features of this report

Profiles of each country’s electricity infrastructure including power generation capacity by fuel input and electricity networks.

An understanding of the Western European electricity market.

Power supply data in TeraWatt-hours as well as production, interconnectors, imports and exports by country.

Power demand data by consumer type divided into residential, non-residential and power generation in TeraWatt-hours.

An overview of the wholesale electricity trading market in each country focussing on the market owners and operators, the active players, liquidity and future prospects.

Power demand forecasts for each country to 2020, in addition to market trends detailing power production and demand by sector.

Key findings of this report

Austrian government has planned capacity addition of around 7,508MW by 2017, planned addition for hydro and nuclear is around 2,693MW and 2,940MW respectively.

Belgium’s high-voltage transmission network is made up of 380kV, 220kV, 150kV, 70kV, 36kV and 30kV lines and underground cables. Currently, the high-voltage transmission network consists of 2,765km of underground cables and 5,614km of overhead lines.

Nearly two thirds of Denmark’s power production is sourced from coal. However, Denmark is also a pioneer in renewable energy and is one of the most prolific users of wind energy in the EU. Given its role as a producer of natural gas, Denmark is also a significant user of natural gas in the power generation sector.

The vast majority of French power generation capacity is nuclear. France’s 58 nuclear reactors, located at 19 power stations, have a total capacity of over 63,260MW. Two more nuclear plants are planned by 2017.

TenneT is the Dutch TSO and operates parts of the grid above 110 kV. There are 12 Distribution Network Operators owning and managing the middle and low voltage grids. Most DNOs are still in the hands of the supply companies. The Dutch transmission grid consists of 2,003kms of 380kV and 683kms of 220kV lines.